Sand and Silence
by sirbartonslady
Summary: After the defeat of the Sound Five, the Sunanin regroup after and decide whether to follow Sasuke or take the wounded back to Konohagakure


**Author's Note**: This one-shot is a slightly-cracked idea I got while watching the dubs of episodes 125-127 (the part of the Sasuke Retrieval Arc where the three Sand siblings show up as pinch hitters, in a manner of speaking.) It's never explained how Kiba, Lee and Shikamaru got back home, but I think it's safe to assume that they were escorted, and probably met up with each other along the way. I thought it'd be fun to see what kinds of things might have happened along the way.

I should note that while I have a tendency to 'ship these character pairings, this story is _not_ romantic. I'm trying to stick as close to canon as I can.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any part of "Naruto" or its characters. It all belongs to the incomparable Masashi Kishimoto-sensei. I'm just playing in the sandbox of this amazing world.

* * *

**"Sand and Silence"**

"Gah," Sand ninja Kankurou muttered, looking appraisingly at his puppet, which oozed blood between its slats and out the vents. "I forgot about this part. That's not going to be fun to clean. Okay, Karasu, come out of there. Let's see how badly gooed up you are." He flicked his left wrist, sending the five tiny wires of chakra-strings shimmering. The puppet started to come apart, as one of the heads disengaged and lifted, dripping dark red blood from its blade.

Inuzuka Kiba let out his breath in a gusty sigh. That had been damned _close_. He squeezed Akamaru gently, murmuring deep in his throat to the pup, to soothe him. Akamaru trembled and whined softly, but showed no hostility. Kiba grimaced as his abdomen lanced with pain. _Another close call_, he thought. _A few more inches to the side, and I'd've speared something vital, like a kidney._ He was going to have to take it easy for a while, once he got home. Not only had he lost quite a bit of blood, but this injury, while not fatal, wasn't something to just slap a bandage on and continue strenuous exercise. He was more worried, though, about Akamaru.

"So, kid, how badly hurt are ya?" Kankurou crouched down in front of Kiba, startling the Leaf genin. "I see you're covered in blood there on your abdomen. Must be a hell of a wound to stop someone like you. Let me have a look. I'm not necessarily a medic-nin, but we're taught first aid in the puppet-corps. It's standard practice. I can't heal you, but I can probably patch you up 'til we get you home to your Hokage."

Kiba groaned and shifted his legs, moving Akamaru from his lap up onto his chest, balancing the pup awkwardly. He flinched and throttled down a cry of pain as Kankurou's hands peeled the torn cloth away from the wound.

"Wow, he had bad aim," the puppeteer said. "Missed your kidneys by nearly a kilometer. Or did you move at the last minute?"

"That was my doing," Kiba said, grinding his teeth. "He was trying to fuse with me, so I figured there was only one way to drive him out -- attempt suicide. I was prepared to die if necessary, but I didn't want to do so at his mercy."

"Hmm," the puppeteer's face folded contemplatively, making the purple ink on his face shift into strange shapes. "Well, lucky for you, I have a small first-aid kit hidden inside Karasu's head. You'll have to bite the branch and bear with it, because it's gonna hurt -- that wound is getting infected, so I need to pour some antiseptic on it." He pulled on the chakra-strings, bringing the creepy puppet head over next to him, and with a flick of his thumb, he unlatched a hitch on the back of the head and draw a small gray pouch out of it. Rummaging briefly in the pouch, he pulled out a small vial of a semi-clear liquid. Using his teeth, he pried it open and tipped it over Kiba's wound.

The next thing Kiba knew, he was groggily blinking his eyes, with a view of the forest canopy overhead. Slowly, he sat up, noting that Akamaru was curled up beside him, shivering. The wound on Kiba's abdomen was bandaged with gauze and athletic tape. His whole lower body screamed in pain even just sitting up.

"You scream like a girl, you know that, kid?"

Kankurou was kneeling nearby, apparently scrubbing out the larger puppet. He had his sleeves rolled up, with his gloves sitting nearby. The gory blood seemed to cling to the puppeteer's dark brown hair, giving it an even spikier appearance than normal. The other puppet was already bundled up in its wrappings and waiting to be hoisted onto its master's back. There was a dirt mound nearby, probably a crude grave for the two Sound ninjas.

Kiba blinked; the puppet-master had his black hood off, laying next to him on the ground. This marked the first time Kiba had ever seen what color hair Kankurou had.

"What happened?"

"What, just now? I poured the ethanol on your wound; you screamed like a girl and went limp. I presume you blacked out. So, since I really don't feel like lugging a whole bunch of bodies at once, I opted to take this time to empty out Kuroari and clean it a bit. By the way, you've got a wound in your chest too. I disinfected that and tried to bandage it. Looks like the bleeding in all your wounds has pretty much already stopped, but they could reopen." He then began winding the white fabric around the puppet, quickly making a cocoon out of it.

"How long have I been out?"

"Eh? I dunno, ten or fifteen minutes. Just long enough for me to get thoroughly filthy here, yuck." Kankurou brushed at his hair irritably. "Definitely going to need a shower before we go back to Sunagakure. Oh well." He pulled on his gloves and then pulled on the hood. "Can you stand, kid?"

"My name's Kiba. Don't call me Kid."

"I call everyone younger than me Kid," Kankurou scoffed as he hoisted the puppets onto his back, and then he added, "except Gaara. And him only because I don't dare piss him off. So you can just deal with it."

Kiba growled to himself as he picked up Akamaru. Then, bracing himself against the tree trunk, he lugged himself to his feet. He very nearly fell over sideways, but a hand at his elbow steadied him.

"Easy there, kid. I didn't realize you were as badly hurt as you were, back when I was still fighting those freaks. If I'd known, I probably wouldn't have said the things I did. You're not in danger anymore, but no wonder you couldn't move." The puppeteer grinned mirthlessly. "That don't mean I think you're a good ninja, mind you. Just means I know why you couldn't move."

Kiba groaned and rolled his eyes. "If I'm recalling correctly, you fought with my teammate Shino. He said you were good, but I believe he managed to bring you to your knees."

"He the one with the creepy bugs? Pah, we knocked each other out, you know. Oh, yeah, I think this is yours. It's in pretty rough shape though," Kankurou picked up the grey lump on the ground, which proved to be Kiba's jacket, torn and shredded in places. With luck, it'd work to help hold Akamaru in place, though, even though it was pretty much unsalvageable otherwise.

Kiba took the jacket and slid it on, grimacing at the smell of dirt, mud, sweat, dog urine and blood. He zipped it up, settling Akamaru into the belly of it. "We'll be home soon, little guy. Just hang on, please. We'll get you to Nee-san right away; she'll fix you up good and proper." The pup whined softly and cuddled against him.

Kankurou looked over at him. "I think the next move should be to find either Gaara or Temari. Since you sensed us coming, I presume you smelled us. Can you smell either of them?"

"I can just catch Temari and Shikamaru. That way," he pointed.

"Right then," the puppeteer shifted his puppets. "Hope you can keep up with me, kid. I don't like going slow for cripples!"

* * *

Nara Shikamaru winced as he tried to climb down from the tree without jarring his injured finger. _How troublesome. Who would have guessed a mere broken finger would hurt so much and make me want to just curl up into a ball and cry?_

Below him, standing primly on the ground with her fan slung across her back, Temari of the Sand village gazed up at him in amusement. "Are you going to take all day? I do have a couple of brothers I'd like to check on. One in particular has me worried, because he's always underestimating his opponents."

"Sorry," Shikamaru snapped. "I'm just being cautious."

"What for? Afraid of an ambush?"

"Well that's a distinct possibility."

"Feh!" She scoffed. "Where are they likely to hide?"

She had a point. Her wind attacks had leveled most of the surrounding forest. This tree alone was standing, but not undamaged.

_Ignore the pain, ignore the pain_, he told himself as he swung down. A tear sprang to his eyelid at the sharp pain as the broken bones pinched nerves and muscle, but he forced the tear to recede.

"I see you've have a chance to show your stuff, Temari," a voice called dryly from nearby. Emerging from one of the unharmed trees a number of meters away was the black-garbed figure of the puppet-master from the Sand. "You've made quite a mess."

"Aww, looks like Kankurou got to play with the weakling," the kunoichi retorted. "You finished before I did, eh? Must've been a weak opponent."

"Naah, it was good for a workout. And I'm going to have thoroughly disinfect Kuroari when we get home. Bleh. Blood, entrails, you name it, it's in there. I cleaned it out as best I could, but, well, there was only so much I could do."

"You and those barbaric puppets," Temari chuckled.

"Shikamaru, you're okay?" Kiba emerged from the branches.

"I'm fine, what about you? You look like hell!"

"Ah, I'll be okay. I'm a little roughed up, but... nevermind that, where did Naruto go?"

"He went chasing after the guy who took Sasuke. Some other guy showed up out of nowhere, grabbed the coffin, and left. Whoever he was, he was on a whole different level from these guys we were fighting. He literally go the drop on us, and just danced right out of our reach. I'd say he's at least a jounin. I sent Naruto on ahead after him, because I figure if either of us goes up against a jounin, he's got the better chance of outmaneuvering one."

"That's probably where Gaara went then," Kankurou said. "Temari, we should go in that direction. If his opponent is a jounin, Gaara may find himself backed into a corner."

"Not likely," Temari said, "but he might need help." She glanced at Shikamaru. "Direction?"

"That way," Shikamaru pointed. "Though they might have changed course after they got out of range."

"Not likely; that way leads directly to Otogakure," Temari frowned slightly. "Well, let's get moving. You can't be in too bad of shape, Giveup-kun." She sprang forward, settling into a travel pace quickly.

"What the hell kind of name is that?" Shikamaru blinked before following suit. Kiba and Kankurou fell in with them. "Troublesome woman, I swear."

* * *

Rock Lee massaged his face with his hands. This was all so utterly _surreal_. The forest of bones behind them was a real sight to behold, though it creeped him out right down to his core.

"I still have a long way to go, I guess," Sabaku no Gaara murmured. "I should have lost that fight. I wasted far too much chakra."

"You were amazing," Lee insisted. "You have gotten much stronger since the last time I saw you."

"Not really," Gaara leaned against the tree with a heavy sigh. "I've had most of those attacks in my arsenal for a long time, I've just never bothered to use them. Sabaku Kyuu and Sabaku Sousou usually suffice." He reached over and rested his hand on the gourd. "The only one that is new is the one that used the most chakra." He didn't bother to say it, but Lee knew which one he was talking about. The one that created the giant tidal wave of sand and inundated the landscape.

"What the hell is all that!" A voice echoed through the forest nearby. Lee started. It sounded like Kiba.

"Looks like... I want to say it looks like bone." That was Shikamaru.

"It _is_ bone," another voice said. This voice was familiar to Lee, but only peripherally. Lee looked over at the red-haired Suna-nin.

"I don't have the energy to call to them," Gaara murmured. "They'll figure it out."

"I will do it!" Lee jumped to his feet and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Kiba-kun! Shikamaru-kun! I can hear you! Can you follow my voice?"

"Is that you, Lee?" Shikamaru called back. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to back up Naruto-kun."

"Hey, Gaara!" The other masculine voice hollered. "'da hell are ya?"

"He is here too," Lee called. "You sound close -- oh!"

The four ninja emerged from the trees. Kiba looked horrible, and Shikamaru was ragged, but unharmed, it appeared. The two Sand ninjas looked unharmed, though closer inspection showed that the black-clad one -- Lee belatedly remembered this was Gaara's older brother, and his name was Kankurou -- was filthy with dried blood and muck. The way the puppeteer carried himself, it was clear that he was uninjured, so that blood was likely from his opponent, whoever that had been.

"Damn! Gaara, what happened to you?" Temari's eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the sight of her youngest brother slumped against a tree.

"I nearly lost," the young Sand ninja mumbled. "It was sheer dumb luck that I survived. I don't think even Shukaku could have saved me from that, it happened so fast."

"Where's Naruto?" Kiba asked. "Lee, you said you came to back Naruto up, didn't you?"

"I did come to back up Naruto-kun. He went chasing after Sasuke-kun."

"Again?! Someone else showed up?!" Shikamaru's jaw dropped in disbelief. "Un-bloody-believable!"

"No," Lee shook his head. "Whatever that container was, Sasuke-kun broke out of it, and took off running toward the Sound country. I took Naruto-kun's place in the fight so that he could go after Sasuke-kun."

"Did anyone follow Naruto?" Shikamaru frowned.

"Not to my knowledge, no."

"Well, we're still alive," Kiba said. "And our mission's not done. We should go follow Naruto and back him up wherever he is."

Shikamaru looked appraisingly at Kiba, and then at Lee. Kiba wouldn't admit it, but he was clearly pretty badly hurting. Even if his wounds weren't necessarily serious, they were causing him excruciating pain. And Lee... Lee had just gotten out of a dangerous surgery. He was certainly in no position to fight at full strength. He had to retrain his muscles, after all.

Shikamaru glanced at Gaara. No, best not to count on _his_ help anymore either. _He's pretty drained of chakra_.

"What do you say, Gaara?" Kankurou put his hands on his hips. "You're the one who took this mission in the interest of repaying a debt. Temari and I just followed along because that's what we do best -- follow you. Should we go after Uchiha and Uzumaki, or take these miserable wrecks back to their Hokage?"

There was a very long, heavy silence as the wind whistled through the bone-forest. Finally, Gaara spoke.

"We did what the Fifth Hokage asked us to do. There's nothing more we can do. If it's just Uchiha Sasuke now, then we are no longer needed by Uzumaki Naruto. We should not burden him by getting in his way and slowing him down. If he can catch Uchiha Sasuke, he can stop him by himself." There was another pause. "Besides, I am no good for another fight. The only way I could possibly fight again is -- "

"That's unthinkable," Temari interrupted, "so don't even say it."

"We went through a lot of trouble getting that beast to settle down as it is," Kankurou muttered under his breath. "No sense waking it back up so soon."

Gaara heaved himself to his feet. "There's nothing more we can do. We need to head back." He narrowed his eyes at his brother. "And you reek."

"I'm aware of that," Kankurou grumbled. "Unlike your sand, which cleans up after itself, my puppets leave a big mess when they kill."

Shikamaru rubbed his face as Kiba and Lee both looked to him for a decision. "He's right. There's nothing more we can do. I'm almost out of chakra, and my hand hurts like hell. Kiba, you're clearly in a lot of pain, even if you don't want to admit it. And Lee, I can't in good conscience send you out in your condition. You look pretty roughed up. Gaara's right -- if it's just Sasuke left, Naruto can handle him by himself and he won't welcome interruption. The success or failure of this mission is on his shoulders; we should head back and have our wounds tended."

"And see whatever happened to Neji and Chouji, see what the hell is taking them so long to catch up," Kiba added, causing Shikamaru to flinch.

Lee's eyes widened at the belated realization that his teammate was nowhere to be found. "W-wait! Neji was left behind?"

Kankurou looked up at the westering sun in the sky. "Well, you know what they say: we're burning daylight. Let's get moving. I'm not sure I want to be near this freak-forest after nightfall."

As the ninjas started off in the general direction of Konohagakure, Gaara paused briefly, looking up at what remained of Kaguya Kimimaro, swaying ever so slightly in the wind.

"You say I could never understand that which gave your life meaning. Before my eyes were forced open, there was nothing for me but sand and silence, and blood and rage. I wonder if you and I are so different? We are both monsters." His gaze shifted in the direction of Otogakure. "Uzumaki Naruto... please do not make this fight have been in vain. If anyone can break through the darkness, it is you. I know, because you have already saved me."

"Gaara-kun," Lee called. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I was only paying my last respects."

"You were doing _what_?" Kankurou's jaw dropped. "Gaara, you're starting to freak me out. Stop that!"

* * *

**THE END.**

* * *

A word about "Giveup-kun": Since this all happens before Temari sees Shikamaru in tears, she can't really call him Nakimushi-kun (Mr. Crybaby). So I chose to have her call him "Giveup-kun" since she razzes him about giving up (and even in the Japanese version, she says "Give up" in English, or Engrish, whichever you prefer). So, that's why I did that, even if it looks weird. I figure she's got to have some kind of smart remark nickname for him, but he can't yet call him Nakimushi-kun. 


End file.
